Israel launches nationwide polio vaccination campaign

Half of southern children younger than 10 already received oral vaccine, Health Ministry gears up for 3-month effort.

polio vaccine illustrative 370.
(photo credit:REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas)

As the Health Ministry’s oral polio vaccine campaign reaches the half-way mark
in the South – at 50,000 children born after January 1, 2004, vaccinated – it is
gearing up to start a three-month-long effort to vaccinate children in the rest
of the country starting on Sunday.

In all, one million children aged up
to nine years and eight months will receive the two drops of oral polio vaccine
at tipat halav (“well-baby”) clinics.

Schoolchildren will be vaccinated
in schools after the summer vacation. While tipat halav clinics in the South
will be open on Fridays and close later then usual on weekdays for the next two
months, those designated for giving the vaccine in the rest of the country will
observe normal hours.

The vaccination campaign is meant to prevent
children who received the injectable polio vaccinate from infecting those who
have not yet received their shots, including adults with weak immune systems –
due to chronic disease.

The wild polio virus was identified this past
spring during routine tests in sewage treatment plants in the
South.

There are an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 healthy carriers of
polio.

So far, no one has been infected with the paralytic
disease.

According to the ministry, the virus appears to have entered the
country from Egypt.

The Jerusalem Municipality said that it has 130,000
children aged two months to nine years and eight months who are targeted for the
oral polio vaccine, including children of foreign workers. The oral polio
vaccine will be given at eight well-baby centers in west Jerusalem and at three
in east Jerusalem between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.

In addition, there will be a
special duty center for newborn babies, premature babies and urgent tests, the
municipality said.

The centers will offer the injectable polio vaccinate
to children who have not yet had their shot, and hand out information on
hygiene. The public are urged to wash their hands after visiting the toilet and
diapering babies and before meals. Jerusalemites can call (02) 629-8041 between
8 a.m. and 3 p.m. for more information.

The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality
announced that it too is ready to begin its OPV campaign, even though many
municipality workers are on vacation. Check the municipality website or call the
city’s general number 106 for more details.